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Man As a Geomorphic Agent

•• http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelcoal.htmlhttp://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelcoal.html•• Annual coal reportAnnual coal reporthttp://http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/acr_sum.htmlwww.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/acr_sum.html•• Production by100 largest minesProduction by100 largest mineshttp://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/table9.htmlhttp://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/table9.html

West Virginia Coal Association

•• http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelcoal.htmlhttp://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelcoal.html

• Glossary of Coal Industry Terms

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The Source of the Problem

• Photo: NASA International Space Station www.jsc.nasa.gov/images/eol/2003/nyc.html

Midtown Manhatten at Night

http://www.soulofamerica.com/images/photosnyc/Midtown_Manhat_night.jpg

Image Not For Web Reproduction

www.nps.gov/ncro/educ/park/nacc.htm

http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/Stations/station.cfm?station=82

The Source

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Images from Hooke, R. L., 1999

Earth Movement by Humans

Earth Movement by Streams

Subsidence:Fedorko Article

“Mountain State Geologist”

Wide Opening, Close to Surface -Uniform Subsidence

(e.g. Long Wall Mining)

Narrow Opening &/or Great Depth Differential Subsidence

(e.g. Room and Pillar Mining)

Room and Pillar Mine

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Room and Pillar Mine (UMWA)

Subsidence from Room & Pillar Mine

Monongalia Co. WV

Generalized cross section of subsidence. The area on the surface affected by subsidence is usually wider than the area mined out below. The angle of draw is formed by a line from the edge of the mined area straight up to the surface (A-B), and a line from the edge of the mined area to the edge of the surface subsidence (A-C). The angle of draw does not exceed 45 degrees.

WVGES Homeowner's

Guide to Geologic Hazards

www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/geohaz/geohaz3.htm

Angle of Draw

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Generalized cross section of subsidence. The area on the surface affected by subsidence is usually wider than the area mined out below. The angle of draw is formed by a line from the edge of the mined area straight up to the surface (A-B), and a line from the edge of the mined area to the edge of the surface subsidence (A-C). The angle of draw does not exceed 45 degrees.

WVGES Homeowner's

Guide to Geologic Hazards

www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/geohaz/geohaz3.htm

Maximum (45°) Angle of Draw

Long-WallMining Diagram

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Long-Wall Miner and Hydraulic Roof Supprts

Source: WVU Longwall Mining and Ground Control Research Center

Inactive Long-Wall Face

Source: www.coalleader.com/longwall_mining.htm

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Hydraulic Roof Supports

Active Long-Wall Face

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Long Wall Mining

Ponding Through Long-Wall Subsidence

Long-Wall Panel

Ponding Over Long Wall Panels

Unmined Coal

Subsidence Over Long-Wall Panels

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Channelization ofInter- Panel Highs

Unmined Coal

Remediation:

Stream “channelized” 2-3 m over unmined area, panel subsidence ponded upstream reach of the floodplain. Western Mon. Co. WV

“Cutting the Gate”

Dewatering into Old Deep Mines, Near Thomas WV

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Unnamed Trib. of Pendleton Creek, Tucker Co. 12 Sept vs. 20 Nov 2003

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Surface Mining

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

(SMCRA)

Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Program

East Tennessee: Multiple Seams, Contour Strip Mines

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East Tennessee Strip Mine

Surface-Mine Reclamation

Approximate Original Contour(AOC)

Not “Original” Landscape!

Muddy Creek, Preston Co., WV, late 1980s

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Muddy Creek, Preston Co., WV, 1990

Approximate Original Contour: Contour Surface Mine

AOC is much less natural in areas where the reclaimed slopes are particularly long or steep.

To reduce gully erosion, long slopes are broken up with short terraces

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Reclamation Ziggurat

Old Sedimentation Pond

“Approximate Original Contour”

Potomac Mine, Elk Run, Grant Co. WV, June 1999

Mountain-Top Removal

Impact increases in Mountain-Top Removal and Valley Fill.

Valley Fill

AOC

Not AOC

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Large Dragline beside Very Large Bulldozer, Hobet Mine, Boone Co. WV

• Photo Courtesy of Larry Emerson, Arch Coal, Inc.

Image Not For Web Reproduction

Large Shovel Loading Overburden on ~220 ton Rock Truck, Hobet Mine, Boone Co., W.Va.

• Photo Courtesy of Larry Emerson, Arch Coal, Inc.

Image Not For Web Reproduction

Mountain-Top Removal & Valley Fill, Kayford Mountain, 1997

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Oh, the West Virginia hills! How unchang’d they seem to standWith their summit point’d sky-ward To the great Almighty’s land

Many changes I can seeWhich my heart with sadness fillsBut no changes can be noted in

those West Virginia hills.

Verse 3 of “West Virginia Hills”Words by Mrs. Ellen King,Music by H. E. EngleOfficial Song of the State of West Virginia

Mountain-Top Mines in WV

WVDEP Map Source:www.dep.state.wv.us/rs/mt/

Mtn-Top Mine Permit

Mtn-Top Mine Zone

Valley Fill

Linked to Mountain-Top Removal

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Mountain-Top Removal & Valley Fill, Fayette Co. WV

Mountain-Top Removal Valley Fill Under Construction

Goal is not a table top, but to reclaim surface as a rolling topography.

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http://www.geocities.com/~rollinghills/valleys.html

End-Dump Durable Rock Fill

Some fills exceed 100 m is depth (large dump truck for scale).During construction process, fills look very unstable...

Amherst, WV

Paper Due at 4:30

Goal: coarse open-framework internal drainage system without cost required to build chimney drain.

“Durable” Rock Fill